The group has commissioned Steven Stucky, the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for music, to write a new a cappella work for the Kansas City Chorale; Eve Beglarian to create a multimedia piece for cellist Maya Beiser; and saxophonist Jimmy Heath to write a piece for the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. Other composers being commissioned include pianist Geri Allen, who will compose a piece for the Walt Whitman Arts Center in Camden, New Jersey; Martin Bresnick, who will write a new work for So Percussion; guitarist Fred Frith, who will write for the Bang on a Can All-Stars; and Libby Larsen, whose work will be performed by the Cassatt Quartet.

Meet the Composer, a 31-year-old organization dedicated to the performance of new music, has commissioned over 700 works since 1988, including John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, Andr_ Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, and John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1. The latest commissions are part of the Commissioning Music/U.S.A. program, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.